This weekend I had the chance to work with my friend and lead safety advocate, Tamara Rubin, to test my Instant Pot for heavy metal contaminants including lead.

Wondering if your Instant Pot is really as non-toxic and lead free as you thought? Read on!

Why I Bought an Instant Pot

Before we get going too far, let's talk about why the heck I bought this thing in the first place.

The stainless steel pot. Many counter top rice cookers, slow cookers and pressure cookers contain unsafe chemicals including lead, cadmium and non-stick coatings. The Instant Pot boasts a stainless steel cooking surface instead - which is generally considered an ideal surface for food due to its nontoxic nature.

I like rice. "But it's so easy to just cook it on the stove in a stainless steel pot." Sure it is. As long as you aren't chasing a child or a chicken or a dog when the timer for the rice goes off so you can remove it from the burner so it doesn't burn. Not that I'd know anything about that....

I used to own a rice cooker and it was the only thing I owned with a nonstick coating after I tossed my nonstick pans a few years ago.

Nonstick coatings are concerning because they often contain PTFE, PFOA and PFAS (read more about toxic nonstick coatings here). Stainless steel rice cookers (that are stainless steel on the inside where it counts) are hard to find.

Convenience. Sometimes I forget to defrost my meat or soak my beans. Can you relate? The Instant Pot's pressure cooking function means I can speed up the process of cooking those foods significantly so that I can still get dinner on the table on time.

So that's why I like it. And I wanted to keep liking it! But let's talk about lead shall we?

XRF Testing

Tamara Rubin, the producer and director of MisLead: America's Secret Epidemic and renowned lead expert rented an XRF testing instrument this week to do some consumer goods testing. An XRF instrument is a precision scientific instrument which can detect even trace amount of heavy metals including lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and more.

About the Author:

Carissa Bonham is a lifelong crafter and mom of two creative boys. The owner and lead writer at Creative Green Living, she won the Craftys Award for the "Best Craft Blogger" category in 2016 and the ShiftCon award for "Best DIY Blogger" in 2018.Her goal is to empower families to make easy projects and healthier choices that are beautiful and delicious! She is also the author of the hardcover cookbook, Beautiful Smoothie Bowls (Skyhorse, 2017) and Proven Techniques for Keeping Healthy Chickens (Skyhorse, 2018). Her projects have been featured in magazines like Kids Crafts 1-2-3, Capper's Farmer and Urban Farm Magazine. Follow her on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter or join the Creative Green Living Tribe.

I am not a lab so I cannot say definitively whether the lead off-gasses BUT when you have the lid locked on (such as in pressure cooking mode), the food is locking inside an area that is entirely stainless steel so would not be exposed to lead at all.

first off I would like to thank you for taking your time to testing all these products I don't know if somebody has mentioned this already I cannot read all of your reviews but what haqppens when you heat up the metal does it Leach that's my concern.

I am glad to hear that the Instant Pot isn't poisoning us with lead but what about nickel? I recently read an article about stainless steel. It said that if a magnet doesn't stick to a stainless steel pot that this means that the pot is high in nickel content. A magnet does not stick to my instant pot.f

The pot is made from 18/8 stainless steel. So it is 18% chromium and 8% nickel. I do not personally have concerns about the nickel content but if you have a nickel allergy or sensitivity, you may need to be aware of the different steel grades and what they mean for nickel content.

The inner pot is 18/8 stainless steel, which means it contains up to 8% nickel. Nickel is present without a doubt. If you need to avoid nickel due to an allergy, this is not the appliance for you.

I am testing a new (non-Instant Pot) cooler that should be metals free. I’ll share about that in the Facebook group if you are interested in following along: www.facebook.com/groups/creativegreenliving

Ok I contacted Instant Pot directly this morning and they stated to me that the warning this pertains to is "strictly in the power cord that nothing comes into contact with the food whatsoever"??? This seems very strange to me but that is what their rep stated to me. What are your thoughts on this?

Hi, I'm Carissa! I want to help you make healthier choices for your family that are BEAUTIFUL & DELICIOUS - and really work! My life is proof positive that being green doesn't have to be bland or boring! Read more...

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